Family Brings Out The Best In Us
by saphira and shruikan
Summary: Zuko lets slip to the gang how he feels about them. Fluffy Kataang and Zuko oneshot.


**Family Brings Out The Best In Us**

Peace.

Peace, finally. No more war. No more senseless killing. The tyrant Fire Lord Ozai had been crippled and imprisoned. The Hundred Year War was over, and it was all thanks to the Avatar and his friends.

Said Avatar and his friends were now lounging around in the teashop owned by the new Fire Lord's uncle. The Jasmine Dragon was Ba Sing Se's most popular teashop, all thanks to the love, care, and delicious secret ingredients poured into every cup. Iroh was actually thinking of gathering a few friends and opening new Jasmine Dragons in other cities.

Everyone's cups were empty, and Zuko got up to get them more. He wasn't dressed in any fancy royal attire; he was actually wearing simple Earth Kingdom robes. He put everyone's cups on his tray and refilled them, passing his uncle on the way. Iroh had resumed playing his tsungi horn after getting up to express his doubts about his weight in Sokka's atrocity of a drawing. He smiled up at Zuko warmly, the same old warm mischief in his eyes. Zuko wondered how he could ever have left his uncle.

"HEY GUYS!" Sokka yelled, running back into the teashop after going out to look for his sister. "Guess what? I went outside and Katara and Aang were _kissing!"_

A fist-sized block of ice hit Sokka squarely in the back of the head. He yelped and ducked, looking angrily over his shoulder. His irritated face morphed into a terrified one as Katara stormed in, her eyes alight with icy rage. "Sokka, you idiot! You're so rude!" Aang sidled in after her, his entire bald head completely red with embarrassment.

"Well it's about time," Toph muttered.

Zuko laughed and waved a handful of flames under the tray to heat the tea. "I'm surprised it took this long."

Mai, who was leaning against the wall behind Sokka, shook her head in disapproval of everything that was going on.

Iroh paused in his playing to chuckle and sigh, "Young love."

Aang took a seat on the floor by Momo and resumed playing with him, still red and not looking at anyone. Zuko remembered how embarrassed he'd been when Azula had first seen him kissing Mai. There had been no end to the teasing. He wondered how long it would take for Aang and Katara to get over it and start kissing all over the place.

Sokka crept back over to the desk with Suki, who was comforting him and at the same time having a hard time suppressing laughter. There was a red mark on the back of his head that he kept moping over.

Katara sat on the ground next to Aang so close their shoulders were rubbing. His blush deepened, but she didn't notice. She started teasing Momo with a tiny ball of water. He kept catching it, chattering in irritation when it burst in his paws, and cooing in amusement when Katara sucked it out of his fur and formed a ball again.

When the tea was at a proper temperature Zuko took the tray across the room to Mai first – she was his girlfriend, after all. She accepted the tea with a tiny smile. It had taken Zuko a while to convince Mai that his uncle's tea really was something else. When she'd finally tasted it, she'd proclaimed it, "Not that boring," which in her terms meant exceptional. Now she didn't care to flaunt it, but she was Iroh's second biggest fan.

Zuko would always be the first.

Zuko gave Toph her tea – which she downed in one gulp – and then stooped down to give two to Aang and Katara. As they took theirs, Katara said, "Well, at least _someone's_ being nice and not staring at us."

Everyone who had – which was everyone but Zuko and Toph, who literally couldn't – looked away quickly.

"Well, it's kind of weird when your sister's dating the Avatar," Sokka deadpanned, and he dove behind the desk with a yelp when Katara threw a look his way.

"I think it's cute," Suki said.

"I thought it was predictable," Toph said dryly.

"Predictable?" Katara repeated.

"Oh yeah. I could see it from day one. Aang _totally_ couldn't take his eyes off of you. Like . . . ever. Hey, Zuzu, can you get me some more tea? This stuff is good."

The nickname normally would have sent a dreadful shiver down Zuko's spine, but he smiled instead. As long as one of them said it he was fine. He took her cup and went to get more.

"_W-What?_ Wait, was it that obvious?" Aang sputtered, his voice high-pitched.

"Pretty much."

"Sorry, Aang, but even I could see it," Zuko called from the counter, his back to them.

"If the blind girl and the creepy emotionless Fire Nation guy could see it – no offense, Zuko – then yeah, it was pretty obvious," Sokka said.

Zuko smiled again. He was doing that a lot lately.

"Well if it was so obvious, _Sokka,_ why didn't you say anything to me before?" Katara asked him, arching an eyebrow.

"W-Well . . . I was . . . uh . . . just letting nature take its course," he replied, folding his arms.

"Yeah, sure," Toph said. "You had no idea, did you?"

"I did so!"

"I can hear you _lying."_

"No! H-Hey, Aang, remember I was teasing you about it when we were near the Fortuneteller's village? See, I knew!"

"But when were in Kyoshi that one time you told me you didn't think there was anything between them," Suki said thoughtfully.

"Ha! You _didn't_ know!"

"I didn't see it," Iroh put in.

"Then I wasn't the only one!"

The teashop devolved into a babble of voices trying to be heard over all the others, ranging from Iroh's deep speech to Aang's squeaky adolescent voice. Not much of any single sentence could be heard. Zuko was the only quiet one, watching his companions- no, his _friends._

They were so easy to be around. If you wanted a joke there was Sokka. If you wanted a contest there was Toph. If you wanted a game there was Aang. And if you just wanted to talk there was Katara. How could he have ever thought of them as the enemy? They had accepted him for who he was. They had offered kind words while his so-called family had offered false power and rage. These people had shown him his purpose, his goal – his true self. A wave of affection overtook Zuko as he looked at them, all the people who he cared for the most.

"It's not a question of who could tell or who couldn't-"

"Truthfully I was thinking of making a bet to see how long it took for them to get over themselves-"

"You need to mind your own business, I don't see why it's such a big deal-"

"I love you guys."

Dead silence. All eyes turned to Zuko, standing near the counter.

Zuko almost dropped his tray- had he _really_ just said that out loud? His face went brick-red, almost as red as his scar. "I-I mean, uh- what I meant was-"

"Aww, Zuko, we love you too," Katara squealed.

The new Fire Lord had no time to prepare before everyone in the shop had suddenly tackled him in a group hug. The tray was taken out of his hands, and the collective force of people hugging him was taking his breath away.

Zuko jumped and tried to move away, but stopped. He saw Mai, and Aang, and Sokka, and Suki and Katara and Iroh and Toph all smiling at him. Momo landed on his shoulder and rubbed his check against his hair. Appa stuck his head into the teashop and rumbled deep in his colossal throat.

These people were more family than his father and his sister had ever been. They were the reason he had found himself.

He closed his eyes and hugged them back.

_I really love you guys._

v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

**This takes place right after Aang and Katara kiss in the final scene of Avatar.**

**Every single time Zuko smiles in genuine happiness I start squealing, "AWWW SHIT, THAT'S THE CUTEST THING EVER." This was just a quickie oneshot I felt like writing, where I wondered how everyone would react if Zuko actually showed his true affection for everyone for once, you used-to-be emotionless bastard. Can't wait to see him on the Legend of Korra!**

**EDIT: . . . I'm really embarrassed about this, but I forgot Mai was in this scene. Whoops. I modified it to include her. Sorry, Mai! You and Zuko are my favorite pairing aside from Kataang!**


End file.
